Jingo didn't do much for me, although I'm always fond of Vimes and I liked that the Patrician can juggle. Small Gods, on the other hand, is brilliant and one of the best. It wasn't my introduction to the Discworld—that was Moving Pictures—but I know many people who did get in that way.
He's been doing the serious stuff for a while - alongside silly books (like most of the Rincewind ones).
I'm starting to wonder if it's even a case of serious versus silly: there has been a real shift in tone in the last five or six books. Ankh-Morpork has been gradually evolving into the present day in odd directions, and the political angle has been consistently emphasized (perhaps since Jingo) in ways that it previously wasn't, even in Rincewind books like Interesting Times. Sword-and-sorcery has not been the default paradigm of the Discworld for a while now. Maybe it's the distinction between spoof and satire? I'm still working this out.
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He's been doing the serious stuff for a while - alongside silly books (like most of the Rincewind ones).
I'm starting to wonder if it's even a case of serious versus silly: there has been a real shift in tone in the last five or six books. Ankh-Morpork has been gradually evolving into the present day in odd directions, and the political angle has been consistently emphasized (perhaps since Jingo) in ways that it previously wasn't, even in Rincewind books like Interesting Times. Sword-and-sorcery has not been the default paradigm of the Discworld for a while now. Maybe it's the distinction between spoof and satire? I'm still working this out.